Blind Bay Area woman will be part of group summiting Mount Kilimanjaro
"You know, a lot of people think that when you hike a mountain, you do it so you can get the view at the summit. Obviously, for someone like me, when we hike up Mount Kilimanjaro, I'm not going to be able to see the view at the very top," Kristie Colton said. "But there is so much more that can be taken away from this journey."
Colton is blind because of a condition that she has lived with since she was 9, called Stargardt disease. It's a form of macular degeneration that affects central vision.
"So, if I hold my finger out here, I can see it because it's within my peripheral vision. But then as it comes in towards the center, my finger essentially disappears," Colton said.
But that is not enough to stop her from reaching new heights. In the fall, she will be part of a history-making expedition in which 11 blind hikers, with guides, will summit Mt. Kilimanjaro.
"I realized that I couldn't turn this opportunity down. It's so once-in-a-lifetime," Colton said.
In order to get there, she has to train — a lot. She has been doing intense workouts designed to build strength and stamina.
"I need to make sure I have a little bit of extra strength in my ankles to counteract the fact that I don't always see exactly where my feet are landing," Colton told KPIX.
Each step of the process is fueled by her determination not to let her disability drive her away from experiencing life to the fullest.
"When I was in high school, I was really embarrassed to be seen as disabled – it was something that I would go out of my way to hide," Colton said. "Sharing this vulnerable side of me, I think, has made me so much closer with people."
That includes her friends Grace Eysenbach and Jungyeon Park, who will be guiding her every step of the way up Kilimanjaro.
"Kristie is so much more than just how much she can see. She's funny, she's spunky, she's a dreamer, she inspires everyone else around her to dream really big about themselves," Eysenbach said.
Colton said that what was once her soft spot has now become a source of strength.
"I might not experience the world in the same way, but there are so many things that I still love to do and enjoy doing because vision is
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